US2418296A - Medicated cigarette - Google Patents

Description

April 1947. s. s. FREDERICKSON 2,418,295

MEDICATED CIGARETTE Filed April 17,1944

' INVENTOR. SARAH S. FREDRICKSON ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 1, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to medicated tobacco, and more particularly to a medicated cigarette useful in 'the relief of the symptoms of hay fever.

Probably the most generally accepted explanation of hay fever is that it is caused by local irritation of the mucous membrane of the respiratory passages, by the impingement thereupon of sman protein bodies to .which the sufferer may be susceptible.

Logically, relief may be obtained by protecting the mucous membrane from direct contact by these protein particles, and it is a common expedient to apply a protective coating of some unguent substance to the mucous membrane lining of the nostrils, generally with the end of the finger. Petroleum jelly has been commonly employed, but as this liquefies at the temperature of the body, the coating is not lasting but soon drains from the surface to which it is applied. Lanolin has been used for this purpose to a limited extent, and is better than petroleum jelly in that it does not melt at body temperature, and therefore, affords a more permanent protective coat, but when applied in mass, it is more herent than adherent, particularly with respect to the moist interior surfaces of the nostril, 'and is difficult to spread. In either instance, the depth to which the coating may extend is limited by the size of the applicator, so that the smaller passages are unprotected.

The general object of the present invention is to apply to the mucous membrane of the respiratory passages by inhalation, a gradually acquired protective coating of a grease vehicle which melts at a higher than body temperature, through the smoking of a tobacco medicated with such grease, preferably in the form of a cigarette.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a medicated cigarette embodying the principles of the invention;

Figure 2 shows more or less diagrammatically, a group of tobacco flakes, showing in mixture, certain flakes medicated and others unmedicated, in a ratio contemplated by the invention.

The medicated tobacco consists of a mixture of tobacco comminuted in the form in which it is to be smoked, whether in a pipe, cigar, or cigarette, in the approximate proportions of a heaping teaspoonful of tobacco and a teaspoonful of the melted selected grease, which may be mutton tallow, lanoline or any other nonirritating animal fat or other coating substance which melts at. a higher temperature than the body, and vaporizes 2 atthe temperature generated in the combustion of the tobacco.

From the standpoint of manufacture, insofar as experimentation has been carried, mutton tallow is preferred, since it may be melted, cooled and chopped into pieces of more uniform fineness, preparatory to mixing with the tobacco, than other greases which have been tried. A teaspoonful of tincture of benZoin may be advantageously incorporated into the mixture for its soothing effect upon the tissues of the respiratory tract and as a mask for the flavor imparted by the grease, although it is not essential to the invention.

In preparing this mixture, the melted mutton tallow is mixed with the benzoin and the mixture permitted to cool. Then it is kneaded up with the tobacco. It is important to note that the purpose of incorporating the tallow, with or without the benzoin, in solid form, is to cause as little saturation as possible of the tobacco, since substantial saturation interferes with the combustion of the tobacco flake.

Furthermore, it is desired to bring the tallow particle carried by the tobacco flake to a state of incipient vapor at a temperature sufficiently low to prevent decomposition of the tallow, which produces an acrid smoke. By my invention the tobacco is vaporized upon an ember, the temperature of which, as contrasted with a flame, is sufficient to vaporize the tallow but not to decompose it. The tallow vapor being close to its liquefaction point is believed almost immediately to condense about the minute solid particles which constitute the tobacco smoke, much in the same manner as rain is formed by the condensation of water vapor upon dust particles in the air, and

is inhaled against the mucous membrane of the respiratory passages in the form of minute liquid or solid globules, thus gradually building up a protective coating as the tobacco is smoked.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, the numeral I represents a flake of tobacco carrying a film or coating 2 of tallow, unmedicated flakes being shown at 3, and themedicated cigarette being designated by the reference character 4.

In preparing a finished tobacco, one portion of the treated tobacco is thoroughly mixed with three or four portions of untreated tobacco. The combustibility of the tobacco mixture is thereby improved, and a dilution of the medicament grease effected to give the tobacco a substantially natural taste in which the flavor imparted by the tallow is practically indiscernible.

The treated tobacco, as above described, may be smoked in any conventional manner, in a pipe, or in the form of a cigar or cigarette, but since pipes and cigars are seldom inhaled, while the cigarette is almost universally inhaled, the cigarette is a preferred form for optimum beneficial effects.

The above disclosed technique for manufacturing the treated tobacco does not exclude other processes of manufacture which lead to substantially the same results.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. Medicated smoking tobacco mixture comprising a major portion of untreated tobacco flakes and a minor portion of tobacco flakes coated, to the substantial exclusion of absorption, with a nonirritating substance, in solid state, consisting of an animal fat having a higher melting point than body temperature, and vaporizing without decomposition at ember temperature.

2. Medicated smoking tobacco mixture comprising a major portion of untreated tobacco flakes and a minor portion of tobacco flakes coated, to the substantial exclusion of absorption, with a substance in solid form selected from the following group: mutton tallow, lanoline.

3. Cigarette useful in the treatment of hay fever comprising a mixture of a, major portion of untreated tobacco flakes and a minor portion of tobacco flakes coated, to the substantial exclusion of absorption, with a nonirritating coating substance, in solid state, consisting of an animal fat having a higher melting point than body temperature and vaporizing without decomposition at ember temperature.

. 4. Cigarette useful in the relief of hay fever comprising a mixture of a major portion of untreated tobacco flakes and a minor portion of tobacco flakes coated, to the substantial exclusion of absorption, with a substance, in solid state, selected from the following group: mutton tallow, lanolin.

SARAH S. FREDERICKSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS England 1892

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